Post by jcline on Feb 24, 2006 21:46:31 GMT -4
www.thesanitycheck.com/BobsSanityCheckBlog/tabid/56/EntryID/103/Default.aspx
Carol Remond Received A Subpoena – It’s a Busy Day for SEC News
Location: BlogsBob O'Brien's Sanity Check Blog
Posted by: bobo 2/24/2006 5:34 PM
Well, it looks like all of our emails and complaints to the SEC may be paying some dividends:
I had another chat with Dr. Byrne today, and apparently our good friend and award-winning journalist Carol Remond has received a subpoena from the SEC.
First Herb, now Carol.
The way he found out is interesting.
Apparently, today, a reporter from a large, “name” publication called and wanted his comments on the news that Carol, Herb, Rocker and Gradient had received subpoenas.
The tone of the interview was that it appeared that the SEC had picked up the ball and was now running down the field with it. I think everyone is a bit surprised by that. I know I am.
As an aside, Patrick has expressed to me his shock that they were moving, even though he told me that he’s made his affiants available to a number of law enforcement and regulatory bodies – at their request, not his. I think we just figured that a lot of that was to seem to be doing something – it’s not like they could read all the stories and do nothing – but that their appetites and hearts weren’t really in it. But apparently the lawsuit got everyone’s attention, and it triggered a systemic, “look into this and see if there’s anything to it” approach from a few groups – not just the SEC.
Patrick’s feeling has always been that the states would be more aggressive, especially in light of the NASAA forum on naked short selling. So while the SEC news is a definite positive, he found it a little surprising – one might say that it has rekindled his faith in the Commission. He’s rocked a lot of boats over the last 6 months, and has been rather critical of the SEC’s performance, thrown his share of roundhouses at everyone and anyone, so my sense is that he thought that they might be more inclined to give him a proctology exam than the defendants. I believe that was the basis of the now infamous, “Dead body in the trunk” story. Looks like we might have been a bit harsh.
I’m not a betting man, but in past discussions I’ve opined that it would be the states, as well, so I’m equally surprised by this rash of subpoenas – call it a cautious optimism. I know that there’s been considerable outcry to the SEC to do something from NCANS members and other concerned advocacy groups – the Wall of Letters correspondence amply paints that picture – and my hunch is that they are getting dozens, if not hundreds, of complaints per week against the perceived “miscreants” in this story. Maybe all that heavy lifting paid off – it’s starting to look that way to me.
I think we all just sort of assumed that they would be the last to move. Again, I’m willing to give credit where it is due, and I don’t think that I’m alone in my surprise – that anyone expected them to not only come to Patrick and ask to speak to the affiants at length, but to actually then act in a decisive manner. Maybe we need to reconsider their performance – a friend of mine has told me before that it can take forever for the government to mobilize, but that once they do, they tend to come over the hill with guns blazing. It appears to me that is what they are doing here, and good for them, if that’s the case.
The states aren’t standing still, though – I also got word that 6 or 7 brokers received subpoenas over the last week from another agency/regulatory body, also in the OSTK case. This is in addition to the DTCC subpoenas broken here last week. If this is any indication, we can expect to see the same thing now happen in the Biovail case, as apparently the large, public lawsuits get everyone’s attention – and suddenly the priority become in going after the bad guys.
Whatever works.
So, to recap, the SEC looks like they were working behind the scenes to go after this, even as I was calling them a bunch of complacent dopes – sorry about that. Carol, Gradient, Herb, Rocker have gotten subpoenas. A bunch of brokers have gotten subpoenas. The states are mobilizing, the SEC is mobilizing, and they are taking this seriously – the fact that they are going after the journalists tells you they mean business. Patrick will probably have to fix his presentations so that they don’t basically say that the SEC isn’t doing their job, and I can’t use them as the universal whipping boy, at least not as much.
There’s always the DTCC for that.
I think that everyone involved on the good guy side is delighted that the concept of justice isn’t completely dead in our regulatory bodies. I know that many of you reading this have sent many complaints to the SEC and our elected officials - hell, I’ve encouraged you all to do so even when it looked as though it wasn’t having any effect. It looks like that got their attention. Everyone needs to give themselves a pat on the back on this, as it is proof that your actions as individuals do matter, and that collectively our voices raised as a chorus can get our government to take action.
That we can make it different this time. Which is clearly is.
Now let’s keep the pressure up. There’s work to do.
Carol Remond Received A Subpoena – It’s a Busy Day for SEC News
Location: BlogsBob O'Brien's Sanity Check Blog
Posted by: bobo 2/24/2006 5:34 PM
Well, it looks like all of our emails and complaints to the SEC may be paying some dividends:
I had another chat with Dr. Byrne today, and apparently our good friend and award-winning journalist Carol Remond has received a subpoena from the SEC.
First Herb, now Carol.
The way he found out is interesting.
Apparently, today, a reporter from a large, “name” publication called and wanted his comments on the news that Carol, Herb, Rocker and Gradient had received subpoenas.
The tone of the interview was that it appeared that the SEC had picked up the ball and was now running down the field with it. I think everyone is a bit surprised by that. I know I am.
As an aside, Patrick has expressed to me his shock that they were moving, even though he told me that he’s made his affiants available to a number of law enforcement and regulatory bodies – at their request, not his. I think we just figured that a lot of that was to seem to be doing something – it’s not like they could read all the stories and do nothing – but that their appetites and hearts weren’t really in it. But apparently the lawsuit got everyone’s attention, and it triggered a systemic, “look into this and see if there’s anything to it” approach from a few groups – not just the SEC.
Patrick’s feeling has always been that the states would be more aggressive, especially in light of the NASAA forum on naked short selling. So while the SEC news is a definite positive, he found it a little surprising – one might say that it has rekindled his faith in the Commission. He’s rocked a lot of boats over the last 6 months, and has been rather critical of the SEC’s performance, thrown his share of roundhouses at everyone and anyone, so my sense is that he thought that they might be more inclined to give him a proctology exam than the defendants. I believe that was the basis of the now infamous, “Dead body in the trunk” story. Looks like we might have been a bit harsh.
I’m not a betting man, but in past discussions I’ve opined that it would be the states, as well, so I’m equally surprised by this rash of subpoenas – call it a cautious optimism. I know that there’s been considerable outcry to the SEC to do something from NCANS members and other concerned advocacy groups – the Wall of Letters correspondence amply paints that picture – and my hunch is that they are getting dozens, if not hundreds, of complaints per week against the perceived “miscreants” in this story. Maybe all that heavy lifting paid off – it’s starting to look that way to me.
I think we all just sort of assumed that they would be the last to move. Again, I’m willing to give credit where it is due, and I don’t think that I’m alone in my surprise – that anyone expected them to not only come to Patrick and ask to speak to the affiants at length, but to actually then act in a decisive manner. Maybe we need to reconsider their performance – a friend of mine has told me before that it can take forever for the government to mobilize, but that once they do, they tend to come over the hill with guns blazing. It appears to me that is what they are doing here, and good for them, if that’s the case.
The states aren’t standing still, though – I also got word that 6 or 7 brokers received subpoenas over the last week from another agency/regulatory body, also in the OSTK case. This is in addition to the DTCC subpoenas broken here last week. If this is any indication, we can expect to see the same thing now happen in the Biovail case, as apparently the large, public lawsuits get everyone’s attention – and suddenly the priority become in going after the bad guys.
Whatever works.
So, to recap, the SEC looks like they were working behind the scenes to go after this, even as I was calling them a bunch of complacent dopes – sorry about that. Carol, Gradient, Herb, Rocker have gotten subpoenas. A bunch of brokers have gotten subpoenas. The states are mobilizing, the SEC is mobilizing, and they are taking this seriously – the fact that they are going after the journalists tells you they mean business. Patrick will probably have to fix his presentations so that they don’t basically say that the SEC isn’t doing their job, and I can’t use them as the universal whipping boy, at least not as much.
There’s always the DTCC for that.
I think that everyone involved on the good guy side is delighted that the concept of justice isn’t completely dead in our regulatory bodies. I know that many of you reading this have sent many complaints to the SEC and our elected officials - hell, I’ve encouraged you all to do so even when it looked as though it wasn’t having any effect. It looks like that got their attention. Everyone needs to give themselves a pat on the back on this, as it is proof that your actions as individuals do matter, and that collectively our voices raised as a chorus can get our government to take action.
That we can make it different this time. Which is clearly is.
Now let’s keep the pressure up. There’s work to do.